Red Sox Journal: Aceves sent down, might not return to team

BRIAN MacPHERSON and TIM BRITTON

Thursday

Apr 25, 2013 at 6:53 PM

As much controversy as Alfredo Aceves has generated with his actions off the field, both Ben Cherington and John Farrell said only on-field considerations factored in the decision to send Aceves to Triple-A Pawtucket.

BOSTON — As much controversy as Alfredo Aceves has generated with his actions off the field, both Ben Cherington and John Farrell said only on-field considerations factored in the decision to send Aceves to Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday evening.

“This was performance-based,” Farrell said.

“He’s got to get back to doing the things that made him good,” said Cherington, the general manager. “Besides that, there’s nothing else to it. He just has to pitch better. Once he pitches better, then there will be better options for him.”

Aceves is expected to report to McCoy Stadium on Saturday, the day the PawSox return home from a road trip to Rochester and Buffalo. He’ll be placed in the PawSox starting rotation from there, joining Allen Webster and Steven Wright as primary depth options for the starting rotation.

(That’s the plan, anyway. It would surprise no one if Aceves was traded or designated for assignment at some point in the near future.)

Aceves has an 8.66 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 12 walks in 172/3 innings for the Red Sox this season. He gave up eight runs — seven of them earned — on seven hits and four walks in a lopsided loss to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.

But it goes back farther than that. Both Cherington and Farrell pointed to struggles that date back to last season. In his final 12 appearances a year ago, Aceves allowed 23 earned runs in 221/3 innings — a 9.27 ERA.

A 3.18 ERA in 17 innings pitched in spring training helped his case. He just didn’t carry it into the regular season.

“There were certainly times in spring training when we thought we saw more of what we had seen in 2011 as far as the ability to repeat and execute a mix of pitches and things like that,” Cherington said. “It just wasn’t there consistently enough. As we entered the season, we felt like he had shown enough to be in that swing role, protect us as the sixth starter. It just didn’t work out the way it hoped.”

A pitcher whose fastball sits at 94 mph as a reliever has been more around 91 as a starter, and he hasn’t compensated with improved command. He has more walks than strikeouts in his three starts this season.

But Cherington said he believes that examining the differences between Aceves as a starter and as a reliever is missing the point.

“We don’t feel like the role is what’s at the root of the issues,” he said. “We go back and look at things he did in 2011 and the way he did it. He’s gotten away from a lot of those things. He’s got to get back to the things that made him good.”

Out of the lineup again

Still feeling stiffness in his lower back, Shane Victorino was out of the lineup on Thursday night and is not expected to be in the lineup on Friday, either.

Victorino first tweaked his back trying to sprint out of the batter’s box after dropping down a sacrifice bunt on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals. The 32-year-old outfielder didn’t play on Sunday or Monday, and he was lifted in the seventh inning on Wednesday when his back tightened again.

“We’re hopeful it’s only a couple of days,” Farrell said. “But given the fact that he’s had this [twice] within a week, we’ve got to be a little more cautious this time around.”

Cherington said the idea of Victorino going on the disabled list “hasn’t even been discussed.”

To replace Victorino in the lineup on Thursday the Red Sox again moved Daniel Nava to right field and installed left-handed-hitting Mike Carp in left field against Houston righty Philip Humber.

Ideally, Boston would have brought up an outfielder from Triple-A Pawtucket to replace Aceves on the roster — an outfielder who could serve as insurance should Victorino still not be ready to play in a day or two.

But rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. by rule cannot be called up until he’s been in the minor leagues for 10 days, a window that expires on Monday. The only exception to that rule would be if he was called back up to replace a player who goes on the disabled list.

Bryce Brentz and Mitch Maier would also figure to be options to be called up from Pawtucket, but 40-man-roster considerations work against them. Both Brentz and Maier would have to be added to the 40-man roster, but there’s no room unless someone else is removed — such as catcher Dan Butler, outfielder Alex Hassan or Aceves.

Lackey ready to start

Barely more than three weeks after he walked off the Rogers Centre mound with his right arm hanging limp by his side, John Lackey is expected to start for the Red Sox on Sunday at Fenway Park.

Lackey threw a bullpen session on Thursday afternoon, the last hurdle he had to clear before the Red Sox were going to send him out to pitch in a game. He’d already pitched 32/3 innings in a rehab start at Double-A Portland on Monday.

It’s all gone about as well as the Red Sox could have hoped after Lackey screamed in pain after the 77th pitch of his first start in a major-league game since 2011. The 34-year-old righty had missed the entire previous season after undergoing Tommy John surgery to replace ligaments in his elbow, and the injury looked at first like he’d shredded an elbow he’d spent the last 18 months rebuilding.

“It didn’t look good,” Farrell said.

Instead, what Lackey suffered was a strain of his biceps — a far milder injury.

“It’s not that uncommon for things like this to happen coming off Tommy John because, obviously, during rehab, you’re conditioning and building strength, but that sort of last level of intensity, you can’t get anywhere other than in a major league game,” general manager Ben Cherington said.

Back with Boston

For years, the knock on Ryan Lavarnway was that he wasn’t a good enough defender to catch in the majors.

Entering this season, the concerns surrounding Boston’s 25-year-old catching prospect focused on his bat and a subpar 2012.

And so, it’s a nice development for Lavarnway that he was called up on Thursday largely for his offense. Lavarnway, who was promoted to take Alfredo Aceves’ spot on the roster, isn’t likely to be with the major-league club for long. Lackey is due back Sunday, and Farrell said Thursday that he will take Lavarnway’s spot on the roster.

In the meantime, Lavarnway probably won’t see any time behind the plate. But he can provide a right-handed bat off the bench.

Lavarnway has quietly put together a solid start to his season with the PawSox. Reunited with hitting coach Dave Joppie, who worked with him in Portland, Lavarnway more closely resembles the hitter he was in 2011 than 2012. The prodigious power has not yet arrived — some of that can be blamed on the weather — but Lavarnway is displaying what he called “a combination of being aggressive and being disciplined at the same time.”

“It’s a delicate balance. It’s something that I need to accomplish,” Lavarnway said. “The discipline part of it is making sure I take a good swing at a good pitch and not swing at the garbage they throw me.”

Lavarnway is hitting .310 with a .423 on-base percentage in 11 games for Pawtucket.

“I feel like I’m getting back to being myself at the plate,” Lavarnway said. “What it comes down to is I’ve got to be ready for a battle every pitch. I’ve just got to win that battle.”

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